Early 1700s - Border Disputes Between the French, British, and Natives
At this time, North America east of the Mississippi River, aside from Spanish Florida, was largely claimed by either Great Britain or France.
This led to land disputes and battles as the European powers were trying to expand their control over the continent.
While the war took place primarily in the areas to the North, it ultimately resulted in Spain ceding La Florida to Britain and France giving New Orleans to Spain.
This led to Spain attacking the Maroons south of New Orleans and Britain battling with the Seminoles of Florida.
The word "Canada" originates from the Iroquois-Huron word "kanata," which means "village" or "settlement."
In 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier encountered two Indigenous youths who used the term "kanata" to refer to the village of Stadacona, located in present-day Quebec City.
Cartier adopted the word to describe not just the village but the broader area controlled by the chief, Donnacona.
By the mid-1500s, maps began to label the region north of the St. Lawrence River as Canada.
The first European settlement, north of Florida, was in Canada.
It was established by the French explorers Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain, in 1604, at St. Croix Island, followed by the founding of Quebec City.
Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Quebec City became the first permanent French settlement in Canada and a key location for trade and exploration.
By 1750, the French population, of about 75,000, was heavily concentrated in modern Canada, a small number lived in the Southern areas of New Orleans, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and small settlements in the Illinois Country.
French fur traders and trappers traded with local Native tribes and often created high-ranking unions by marrying the daughters of chiefs.
At the onset of war, there were no French regular army troops stationed in America. New France was only defended by about 3,000 troupes de la marine and companies of colonial regulars, who were well experienced in woodland battles. The colonial government only recruited militia support when needed.
John Cabot, an Italian explorer, claimed Newfoundland for England in 1497, marking the beginning of English interest in North America.
However, permanent English settlements did not occur until over one hundred years later, with the first being Jamestown, Virginia, established in 1607.
By 1750, the nearly 2 million British settlers mostly resided along the Atlantic coast of North America, from Nova Scotia and the Colony of Newfoundland in the north to the Province of Georgia in the south.
Much of the borders of the claimed lands of the original 13 colonies extended arbitrarily far to the west, as the exact extent of the continent was unknown at the time when their provincial charters were granted.
While their populations were centered along the coast, more settlements began growing into the interior.
When conflicts arose, the ununited British colonial governments preferred operating independently of one another and of the government in London.
This situation complicated negotiations with Native tribes, whose territories often encompassed land claimed by multiple colonies.
Having few troops, most of the British colonies simply mustered local militia companies to deal with the Indian threats.
Thus they were generally ill trained and available only for short periods.
However, the Colony of Virginia, by contrast, had a large frontier with several companies of British regulars.
As the war progressed, the leaders of the British Army tried to impose constraints and demands on the colonial administrations.
The Iroquois Confederation dominated much of upstate New York and the Ohio Country.
They initially held a stance of neutrality to ensure continued trade with both the French and the British.
However, maintaining this stance would prove difficult as the European powers began to lay claims to the same lands.
The Iroquois Confederation tribes began to ally with either the French or the British, depending on which side provided the most beneficial trade.
Early on during the French and Indian War, the British colonists were supported by the Iroquois Six Nations and also by the Cherokees, but only until differences caused the Anglo-Cherokee War of 1758.
When war broke out, the French used their trading and marriage connections to recruit fighters from tribes in the western portions of the Great Lakes region.
These included the Hurons, Mississaugas, Ojibwas, Winnebagos, and Potawatomi.
Most of the other northern tribes sided with the French, their primary trading partner and supplier of arms.
The Cherokee bordering land claims were subject to diplomatic efforts from the British and French in order to gain their support or neutrality in the event of a conflict.
After siding with the Province of Carolina in the Tuscarora War of 1711–15, the Cherokee had turned on their British allies at the outbreak of the Yamasee War of 1715–17.
Midway through the war, they switched sides and allied again with the British, ensuring the defeat of the Yamasee.
Many of the surviving Yamasee would eventually flee to Spanish Florida to become part of the newly forming Seminole nation.
The Cherokee remained allies of the British.
During this time, the Southeast interior was dominated by the Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee tribes, as well as the Siouan-speaking Catawbas, along with the Muskogee-speaking Creeks and Choctaw.
They were also in conflict and trade with the British, as some fled south into Spanish Florida and formed the new Seminole tribe.
At this time, Spain's claims were mostly in South and Central America, though they continued up into the southwestern portion of the continent.
They only claimed the province of Florida in Eastern North America.
Florida's Spanish population had already been reduced to only a few hundred settlers, mostly concentrated in St. Augustine.
Spain also had control of Cuba and other territories in the West Indies that became military objectives in the upcoming Seven Years' War.
New France's Governor-General, Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, was concerned about the incursion and expanding influence of British colonial traders, such as George Croghan, into the Ohio Country.
In June 1747, he ordered Pierre-Joseph Céloron to lead a military expedition through the area, whose objectives were:
to reaffirm to their Indian allies that trading arrangements with colonists were exclusive to those authorized by New France;
to confirm Indian assistance in asserting and maintaining the French claim to the territories;
to discourage any alliances between Britain and local Indian tribes;
and to impress the Indians with a French show of force against British colonial settler incursion, unauthorized trading expeditions, and general trespass against French claims.
Disputes over territorial claims persisted after the end of King George's War in 1748. The disputes also extended into the Atlantic Ocean, where both powers wanted access to the rich fisheries of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland.
In 1749, the British government gave land to the Ohio Company of Virginia for the purpose of developing trade and settlements in the Ohio Country. The grant required that it settle 100 families in the territory and construct a fort for their protection. But the territory was also claimed by Pennsylvania, and both colonies began pushing for action to improve their respective claims.
Meanwhile, Pierre Céloron's force, consisting of about 200 Troupes de la marine and 30 Indians, covered about 3,000 miles (4,800 km) between June and November 1749.
At todays Pittsburgh, Céloron buried lead plates engraved with the French claim to the Ohio Country.
Whenever he encountered British colonial merchants or fur-traders, he informed them of the French claims on the territory and told them to leave.
Céloron's expedition arrived at Logstown, where the Natives in the area informed him that they owned the Ohio Country and that they would trade with the British colonists regardless of the French.
Céloron continued south until his expedition reached the confluence of the Ohio and the Miami rivers, which lay just south of the village of Pickawillany, the home of the Miami chief known as "Old Briton".
Céloron threatened Old Briton with severe consequences if he continued to trade with British colonists, but Old Briton ignored the warning.
Céloron wrote an extensively detailed report:
"All I can say is that the Natives of these localities are very badly disposed towards the French... and are entirely devoted to the English.
I don't know in what way they could be brought back."
Céloron returned disappointedly to Montreal in November 1749.
Even before his return to Montreal, reports on the situation in the Ohio Country were making their way to London and Paris, each side proposing that action be taken.
Massachusetts governor William Shirley was particularly forceful, stating that British colonists would not be safe as long as the French were present.
In 1750, Christopher Gist, a surveyor, explored the Ohio territory, acting on behalf of both Virginia and the Ohio Company, and he opened negotiations with the Indian tribes at Logstown. He completed the 1752 Treaty of Logstown in which the local Indians agreed to terms through their "Half-King" Tanacharison and an Iroquois representative. These terms included permission to build a strong house at the mouth of the Monongahela River on the modern site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In March 1752, Charles le Moyne de Longueuil was temporarily assigned as Governor-General of New France.
The continuing British activity in the Ohio territories prompted Longueuil to dispatch another expedition to the area under the command of Charles Michel de Langlade, an officer in the Troupes de la Marine.
Langlade was given 300 men, including French-Canadians and warriors of the Ottawa tribe.
His objective was to punish the Miami people of Pickawillany for not following Céloron's orders to cease trading with the British.
On June 21, the French war party attacked the trading center at Pickawillany, capturing three traders and killing 14 Miami Indians, including Old Briton.
He was reportedly ritually cannibalized by some Indians in the expedition party.
In the spring of 1753, Paul Marin de la Malgue was given command of a 2,000-man force of Troupes de la Marine and Natives.
His orders were to protect the King's land in the Ohio Valley from the British.
Marin followed the route that Céloron had mapped out four years earlier.
As he moved south, he drove off or captured British traders, alarming both the British and the Iroquois.
While Céloron had limited the record of French claims to the burial of lead plates, Marin went further and constructed garrisoned forts.
He constructed his second fort at Fort Le Boeuf in Waterford, Pennsylvania, designed to guard the headwaters of LeBoeuf Creek.
Tanaghrisson was a chief of the Mingo tribe, who were remnants of Iroquois and other tribes who had been driven west by colonial expansion.
He intensely disliked the French whom he accused of killing and eating his father.
He traveled to Fort Le Boeuf and threatened the French with military action, which Marin contemptuously dismissed.
The Iroquois sent runners to the manor of William Johnson in upstate New York, who was the British Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the New York region and beyond.
Johnson was known to the Iroquois as Warraghiggey, meaning "he who does great things."
He spoke their languages and had become a respected honorary member of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area, and he had been made a colonel of the Iroquois in 1746.
He was later commissioned as a colonel of the Western New York Militia.
The Indian representatives and Johnson met with Governor George Clinton and officials from some of the other American colonies at Albany, New York.
Mohawk Chief Hendrick was the speaker of their tribal council, and he insisted that the British abide by their obligations and block French expansion.
Clinton did not respond to his satisfaction, and Hendrick said that the "Covenant Chain" was broken.
Thus ending the friendly relationship between the Iroquois Confederacy and the British Crown.
While the New York governor lacked any intention to assist the Natives and stop the French, there were others who intended to take action. Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia was an investor in the Ohio Company, which stood to lose money if the French held their claim. In October 1753, he ordered 21-year-old Major George Washington, of the Virginia Regiment (whose brother was also an investor in the Ohio Company), to warn the French to leave the territory. Washington left with a small party, picking up Jacob Van Braam as an interpreter, Christopher Gist (their surveyor who had negotiated with the Iroquois 3 years before), and a few Mingos led by Tanaghrisson.
On December 12, Washington and his men reached Fort Le Boeuf.
Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre had succeeded Marin as commander of the French forces after Marin died on October 29, and he invited Washington to dine with him.
Over dinner, Washington presented Saint-Pierre with the letter from Dinwiddie demanding an immediate French withdrawal from the Ohio Country.
Saint-Pierre said, "As to the Summons you send me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it."
He told Washington that France's claim to the region was superior to that of the British, since René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle had explored the Ohio Country nearly a century earlier.
Washington's party left Fort Le Boeuf early on December 16 and arrived in Williamsburg on January 16, 1754. He stated in his report, "The French had swept south", detailing the steps which they had taken to fortify the area, and their intention to fortify the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers
In the early British America, wars were often named after the sitting British monarch. By this time, there had already been a King George's War in the 1740s, during the reign of King George II. Therefore, this conflict was named after Britain's opponents. Thus, it became known as "The French and Indian War" (even though the Native Americans fought on both sides of the conflict). It also led into the Seven Years' War, which was a much larger conflict between France and Great Britain that was fought overseas, but did not involve the American colonies. Canadians and Europeans view the French and Indian War as a theater of the Seven Years' War (Guerre de Sept Ans), while Americans view them as two separate conflicts, since only one of them involved the American colonies. French Canadians also use the term "War of Conquest" (Guerre de la Conquête), since it is the war in which New France was conquered by and became part of the British Empire. In Quebec, they consider this war as a dramatic tipping point of French Canadian identity and nationhood, since the war was largely concluded after the capture of Montreal in 1760.
The French and Indian War pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes.
It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne at the location that later became Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of now 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.
At the start of the war, the French colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with almost 2 million in the British colonies, so they particularly depended on the natives to act as mercenaries.
The British colonists were supported at various times by the Iroquois, Catawba, and Cherokee tribes, while the French colonists were supported by Wabanaki Confederacy member tribes Abenaki and Mi'kmaq, and the Algonquin, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes.
Fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from the Province of Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north.
In 1756, two years into the French and Indian War, Great Britain declared war on France, beginning the worldwide Seven Years' War.
Many view the French and Indian War as being merely the American theater of this conflict; however, in the United States the French and Indian War is viewed as a singular conflict which was not associated with any European war.
Even before Washington returned to Williamsburg on January 16, 1754, Dinwiddie had already sent a company of 40 men under William Trent to began construction of a small stockaded fort in the early months of 1754.
Dinwiddie had ordered Washington to lead a larger force to assist Trent in his work.
Meanwhile, Governor Duquesne sent 500 additional French forces under Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur to relieve Saint-Pierre during the same period.
Contrecœur led the 500 men south from Fort Venango on April 5, 1754.
These forces arrived at the fort on April 16, but Contrecœur generously allowed Trent's small company to withdraw.
He purchased their construction tools to continue building what became Fort Duquesne.
Washington learned of Trent's retreat while he was en route.
Mingo sachem Tanaghrisson had promised support to the British, so Washington continued toward Fort Duquesne and met with him.
He then learned of a French scouting party in the area from a warrior sent by Tanaghrisson, so he added Tanaghrisson's dozen Mingo warriors to his own party.
Washington's combined force of 52 ambushed 40 Canadiens (French colonists of New France) on the morning of May 28 in what became known as the Battle of Jumonville Glen.
They killed many of the Canadiens, including their commanding officer Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, whose head was reportedly split open by Tanaghrisson with a tomahawk.
Historian Fred Anderson suggests that Tanaghrisson was acting to gain the support of the British and to regain authority over his own people.
They had been inclined to support the French, with whom they had long trading relationships.
One of Tanaghrisson's men told Contrecoeur that Jumonville had been killed by British musket fire.
Historians generally consider the Battle of Jumonville Glen as the opening battle of the French and Indian War in North America, and the start of hostilities in the Ohio valley.
In response to the opening of hostilities, the Albany Congress convened in June and July of 1754.
The goal of the congress was to formalize a unified front in trade and negotiations with the Indians, since the allegiance of the various tribes and nations was seen to be pivotal in the war that was unfolding.
After deliberations, it was decided to withdraw, and surrender the fort.
Following the battle, Washington pulled back several miles and established Fort Necessity, which the Canadians attacked under the command of Jumonville's brother at the Battle of Fort Necessity on July 3.
Washington surrendered and negotiated a withdrawal under arms.
One of his men reported that the Canadian force was accompanied by Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo warriors—the same tribes whom Tanaghrisson was seeking to influence.
The plan that the delegates had agreed to was neither ratified by the colonial legislatures nor approved by the Crown.
Nevertheless, the format of the congress and many specifics of the plan became the prototype for confederation during the War of Independence.
News of the two battles reached England in August. The British continued harassing the French navy and shipping throughout 1755, seizing supply ships and capturing seamen. These actions later contributed to the eventual formal declarations of war between the European powersm, in the spring of 1756.
In 1755, six colonial governors met with General Edward Braddock, the newly arrived British Army commander, and planned a four-way attack on the French.
The British formed an aggressive plan of operations for 1755.
General Braddock was to lead the expedition to Fort Duquesne, while Massachusetts governor William Shirley was given the task of fortifying Fort Oswego and attacking Fort Niagara.
Sir William Johnson was to capture Fort St. Frédéric at Crown Point, New York, and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Monckton was to capture Fort Beauséjour to the east on the frontier between Nova Scotia and Acadia.
None succeeded, and the main effort by Braddock proved a disaster.
Braddock led about 1,500 army troops and provincial militia on the Braddock expedition in June 1755 to take Fort Duquesne, with George Washington as one of his aides.
They were attacked by French regulars, Canadian Militiamen, and Indian warriors ambushing them from hiding places up in trees and behind logs, and Braddock called for a retreat.
He lost the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755 and was killed along with approximately 1,000 British soldiers who were killed or injured.
The remaining 500 British troops retreated to Virginia, led by Washington.
Washington and Thomas Gage played key roles in organizing the retreat.
The two would later become future opponents in the American Revolutionary War.
British operations failed in the frontier areas of the Province of Pennsylvania and the Province of New York during 1755–57 due to a combination of poor management, internal divisions, effective Canadian scouts, French regular forces, and Native warrior allies.
In June of 1755, the British Colonel Monckton captured Fort Beauséjour on the border separating Nova Scotia from Acadia.
It was the sole British success that year, as it cut off the French Fortress Louisbourg from land-based reinforcements which led to its demise.
Commander-in-Chief William Shirley ordered the expulsion of the Acadians soon afterwards.
Natives likewise were driven off the land to make way for settlers from New England.
Following the death of Braddock, William Shirley assumed command of British forces in North America, and he laid out his plans at a meeting in Albany, New York in December 1755.
He proposed renewing the efforts to capture the forts of Niagara, Crown Point, and Duquesne, with attacks on Fort Frontenac on the north shore of Lake Ontario and an expedition through the wilderness of the Maine district and down the Chaudière River to attack the city of Quebec.
His plan, however, got bogged down by disagreements and disputes with others, including William Johnson and New York's Governor Sir Charles Hardy, and consequently gained little support.
In January 1756, John Campbell was named as the new British Commander-in-Chief of North America.
Newcastle replaced him in January 1756 with Lord Loudoun, with Major General James Abercrombie as his second in command.
Neither of these men had as much campaign experience as the trio of officers whom France sent to North America.
French regular army reinforcements arrived in New France in May 1756, led by Major General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, seconded by the Chevalier de Lévis and Colonel François-Charles de Bourlamaque.
All were experienced veterans from the War of the Austrian Succession.
On May 18, 1756, Britain formally declared war on France, which expanded the war into Europe and came to be known as the Seven Years' War.
The British government initiated a plan to increase their military capability in preparation for war following news of Braddock's defeat. Among the early legislative measures were the Recruiting Act 1756, the Commissions to Foreign Protestants Act 1756 for the Royal American Regiment, the Navigation Act 1756, and the Continuance of Acts 1756. England passed the Naval Prize Act 1756 following the proclamation of war on May 17 to allow the capture of ships and establish privateering (legal piracy).
The new British command was not in place until July. Abercrombie arrived in Albany but refused to take any significant actions until Loudoun approved them, while Montcalm took bold action. With Abercrombie pinned down at Albany, Montcalm slipped away and led the successful attack on Oswego in August. In August 1756, French soldiers and native warriors led by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm successfully attacked Fort Oswego. In the aftermath, Montcalm and the Indians under his command disagreed about the disposition of prisoners' personal effects. The Europeans did not consider them prizes and prevented the Indians from stripping the prisoners of their valuables, which angered the Indians.
Governor Vaudreuil had ambitions to become the French commander in chief, in addition to his role as governor, and he acted during the winter of 1756 before reinforcements arrived. Scouts had reported the weakness of the British supply chain, so he ordered an attack against the forts which Shirley had erected at the Oneida Carry. In the Battle of Fort Bull, French forces destroyed the fort and large quantities of supplies, including 45,000 pounds of gunpowder. They set back any British hopes for campaigns on Lake Ontario and endangered the Oswego garrison, already short on supplies. French forces in the Ohio valley also continued to intrigue with Indians throughout the area, encouraging them to raid British frontier settlements. This led to ongoing alarms along the western frontiers, with streams of refugees returning east to get away from the action.
Loudoun was a capable administrator but a cautious field commander, and he planned one major operation for 1757: an attack on New France's capital of Quebec. He left a sizable force at Fort William Henry to distract Montcalm and began organizing for the expedition to Quebec. However, he was then ordered to attack Louisbourg first by William Pitt, the Secretary of State for the colonies. The expedition was beset by delays of all kinds but was finally ready to sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in early August. In the meantime, a fleet of French ships had escaped the British blockade and awaited Loudoun at Louisbourg They outnumbered the British fleet, so faced with this strength, Loudoun returned to New York amid news that a massacre had occurred at Fort William Henry during his absence.
After several disastrous campaigns in 1757, the British colonial government fell in the region of Nova Scotia. This was followed by the Natives torturing and massacring their colonial victims. William Pitt came to power and significantly increased British military resources in the colonies at a time when France was unwilling to risk large convoys to aid the limited forces that they had in New France, preferring to concentrate their forces against Prussia and its allies who were now engaged in the Seven Years' War in Europe.
A number of British soldiers were killed after the Siege of Fort William Henry. French irregular forces (Canadian scouts and Indians) harassed Fort William Henry throughout the first half of 1757, ambushing British rangers and destroying storehouses and buildings outside the main fortification. In early August, Montcalm and 7,000 troops besieged the fort, which capitulated with an agreement to withdraw under parole. When the withdrawal began, some of Montcalm's Indian allies attacked the British column because they were angry about the lost opportunity for loot, killing and capturing several hundred men, women, children, and slaves. The aftermath of the siege may have contributed to the transmission of smallpox into remote Indian populations, as some Indians were reported to have traveled from beyond the Mississippi to participate in the campaign and returned afterward.
The conflict ended in 1758 with the British victory in the Ohio Country.
Between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture French Canada.
They finally succeeded in capturing territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately the city of Quebec.
The following year the British were victorious in the Montreal Campaign in which the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris.
France also ceded its French Louisiana territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, and French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River went to its ally Spain in compensation for Spain's ceding of Spanish Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of the more valuable Havana, Cuba.
In the aftermath of the war, Britain divided Florida into East Florida and West Florida.
France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to Canada, the islands of Saint Pierre, and Miquelon, confirming Great Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in Eastern North America.
The British and the Cherokee had been allies at the start of The French and Indian War, but each party had suspected the other of betrayals. At the 1754 outbreak of the war, Cherokee warriors took part in British campaigns against the French Fort Duquesne (at present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and the Shawnee of the Ohio Country. In 1755, a band of 130 Cherokee served as the garrison in a fortified town at the mouth of the Ohio River at the behest of the British allied Iroquois League. Tensions between British settlers and their encroachment on the towns of Cherokee peoples increased during the 1750s, culminating in open hostilities in 1758.
For several years, French agents from Fort Toulouse had been visiting the Overhill Cherokee and had made inroads into those places. As a result, several Cherokee leaders sided with the French. The "First Beloved Man" (or Uku) of the nation, Conocotocko (called "Old Hop"), was pro-French, as was his nephew, Conockotocko ("Standing Turkey"), who succeeded him after the death of the elder man in 1760.
The former abandoned site of the Coosa chiefdom was reoccupied in 1759 by a Muscogee contingent in support of the pro-French Cherokee residing in Great Tellico and Chatuga. This was a step toward Yayatustanage's planned alliance of Muscogee, Cherokee, Shawnee, Chickasaw, and Catawba peoples (which would have been the first of its kind in the South). Although such an alliance was not organized until the days of Dragging Canoe, Big Mortar still rose to become leading chief of Muscogee bands after the French and Indian War.
The Cherokee War broke out in 1758 when the Virginia militia attacked Moytoy (Amo-adawehi) of Citico in retaliation for the alleged theft of some horses by the Cherokee. Moytoy led retaliatory raids against colonial towns along the Yadkin and Catawba rivers in North Carolina. This began rounds of retaliation. After 16 Cherokee hostages at Fort Prince George near Keowee were killed by the panicked garrison during an attempt to move them, the Cherokee attacked and massacred the British garrison of Fort Loudoun near Chota (Itsati).
During the second year of the French and Indian War, the British had sought Cherokee assistance against the French and their Indian allies.
The British had reports, which proved accurate, that indicated the French were planning to build forts in Cherokee territory.
(They had already built forts, including Fort Toulouse near present-day Montgomery, Alabama, extending their reach from some of their colonial settlements along the Gulf Coast.
Once the Cherokee agreed to be their allies, the British hastened to build forts of their own in Cherokee lands, completing Fort Prince George near Keowee in South Carolina (among the Lower Towns); and Fort Loudoun in 1756.
Once the forts were built, the Cherokee raised close to 700 warriors to fight in western Colony of Virginia under Ostenaco, while Oconostota and Attakullakulla led another large group to attack Fort Toulouse.
In 1758, the Cherokee participated in the taking of Fort Duquesne. The Cherokee had been promised supplies, but misunderstood where they were to get them from. While traveling through Virginia on their way home, the Cherokee took some horses they believed were rightly theirs. Several British Virginians killed and scalped between 30 and 40 of the Cherokee warriors. Later, the Virginians claimed bounties for the scalps, saying they were Shawnee.
While some Cherokee leaders still called for peace, a few led retaliatory raids on outlying English pioneer settlements.
A number of Muskogee under Big Mortar moved up to Coosawatie.
These people had long been French allies in support of the Cherokee pro-French faction centered in Great Tellico.
South Carolina Governor William Henry Lyttelton embargoed all gunpowder shipments to the Cherokee and raised an army of 1,100 men which marched to confront the Lower Towns of the Cherokee.
Desperate for ammunition for their fall and winter hunts, the nation sent a delegation of moderate chiefs to negotiate.
The 38 chiefs were taken prisoner as hostages and sent to Fort Prince George, escorted by the provincial army.
Lyttleton thought this would ensure peace and returned to Charleston, but the Cherokee were angry and began to attack frontier settlements.
In February 1760, they attacked Fort Prince George in an attempt to rescue their hostages.
The fort's commander was killed and his replacement massacred all of the hostages while fending off the attacks.
This resulted in the Cherokee declaring open war against the British colonies.
The Cherokee expanded their retaliatory campaign into North Carolina, as far east as modern day Winston-Salem.
While attacks on forts were unsuccessful, lesser settlements in the North and South Carolina back-country quickly fell to Cherokee raids.
Lyttleton appealed for help to Jeffery Amherst, the British commander in North America.
Amherst sent Archibald Montgomerie with an army of 1,200 troops (the Royal Scots and Montgomerie's Highlanders) to South Carolina.
Montgomerie's campaign razed 10 Cherokee Lower Towns, including Keowee.
It ended with a defeat at Echoee (Itseyi) Pass when Montgomerie tried to enter the Middle Towns territory.
Later in 1760, the Overhill Cherokee defeated the British colonists at a siege of Fort Loudoun and took it over.
In 1761, a second expedition against the Cherokee under James Grant was planned.
He led an army of 2,800 men (the largest force to enter the southern Appalachians to date) against the Cherokee.
His army moved through the Lower Towns, defeated the Cherokee at Echoee Pass, and proceeded to raze about 18 Middle Towns while burning fields of crops along the way.
The army of British Regulars, Provincial Soldiers, and allied Catawba, Chickasaw, Mohawk, and Stockbridge Indians destroyed the homes and food of approximately 5,000 Cherokee people.
In November 1761, the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Long Island on the Holston with the Colony of Virginia.
They made peace with South Carolina in December with the Treaty of Charlestown.
During the Timberlake Expedition, Lt. Henry Timberlake, Sgt. Thomas Sumter, John McCormack (who served as their interpreter), and an unknown servant traveled into the Overhill settlements area to deliver a copy of the treaty with Virginia to the Cherokee.
John Stuart became British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern District, based out of Charlestown, South Carolina, and was the main liaison between the Cherokee and the British government.
During the war, many Cherokee towns had been destroyed under General Grant and were never reoccupied.
As a result of the war, Cherokee warrior strength estimated at 2,590 before the war in 1755 was reduced by battle, smallpox, and starvation to 2,300.
After the signing of the treaties and the conclusion of the Timberlake Expedition, Henry Timberlake visited London with three Cherokee leaders: Ostenaco, Standing Turkey, and Wood Pigeon (Ata-wayi).
The Cherokee guests visited the Tower of London, met the playwright Oliver Goldsmith, drew massive crowds, and had an audience with King George III.
On the voyage to England, their interpreter William Shorey died.
This made communication nearly impossible.
Hearing of the Cherokees' warm welcome in London, South Carolinians viewed their reception as a sign of imperial favoritism at the colonists' expense, especially in view of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 (which prohibited settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains), and was a foundation of one of the major irritants for the colonials leading up to the American Revolution.
The resulting peace dramatically changed the political landscape of North America. France and Britain both suffered financially because of the war, with significant long-term consequences. The war changed economic, political, governmental, and social relations among the three European powers, their colonies, and the people who inhabited those territories.
The French and Indian War in North America, along with the global Seven Years War, officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on the 10th of February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal also in agreement.
The British offered France the choice of surrendering either its continental North American possessions east of the Mississippi or the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which had previously been occupied by the British.
France chose to cede its continental North American possessions in the east.
They viewed the economic value of the Caribbean islands' sugar cane to be greater and easier to defend than the furs from the continent.
The British, however, had ample places from which to obtain sugar and were happy to take New France, as defence of their North American colonies would no longer be an issue (though the absence of that threat eventually caused many colonists to conclude they no longer needed British protection).
Britain gained control of French Canada and Acadia, colonies containing approximately 80,000 primarily French-speaking Roman Catholic residents. The deportation of Acadians beginning in 1755 made land available to immigrants from Europe and migrants from the colonies to the south. The British resettled many Acadians throughout its American provinces, but many went to France and some went to New Orleans, which they expected to remain French. Some were sent to colonize places as diverse as French Guiana and the Falkland Islands, but these efforts were unsuccessful. The Louisiana population contributed to founding the Cajun population. The French word "Acadien" changed to "Cadien" then to "Cajun".
The Seven Years' War nearly doubled Great Britain's national debt.
The Crown sought sources of revenue to pay it off and attempted to impose new taxes on its colonies.
These attempts were met with increasingly stiff resistance, until troops were called in to enforce the Crown's authority, and they ultimately led to the start of the American Revolutionary War.
France attached comparatively little value to its American possessions, apart from the highly profitable sugar-producing Antilles islands which it retained.
Minister Choiseul considered that he had made a good deal at the Treaty of Paris, and Voltaire wrote that Louis XV had lost a few acres of snow.
However, the military defeat and the financial burden of the war weakened the French monarchy and contributed to the advent of the French Revolution in 1789.
France returned to America in 1778 with the establishment of a Franco-American alliance against Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, in what historian Alfred A. Cave describes as French "revenge for Montcalm's death".
Spain also traded Florida to Britain in order to regain Cuba, but they also gained Louisiana from France, including New Orleans, in compensation for their losses.
The elimination of French power in America meant the disappearance of a strong ally for some Indian tribes.
The British takeover of Spanish Florida resulted in a rise in tensions between the Choctaw and the Creek, historic enemies who were competing for land.
Some of these tribes would later migrate south and join other tribes to become the Florida Seminoles.
The change of control in Florida also prompted most of its Spanish Catholic population to leave.
Most went to Cuba, although some Christianized Yamasee were resettled to the coast of Mexico.
Until the 1760s, Maroon colonies lined the shores downriver of French New Orleans to the Gulf.
However, France gifted New Orleans to the Spanish, after they had to trade La Florida for Havana, Cuba.
These Maroon colonies were eventually eradicated by Spanish militia with the help of Free Negroes from Spanish-controlled New Orleans.
The Maroons also inhabited the marshlands of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina.
Although conditions were harsh, research suggests that thousands lived there between about 1700 and the 1860s.
In the 1800s, Maroon communities began to disappear as forests were razed. Maroons who escaped and allied with Seminole Indians were one of the largest and most successful Maroon communities in what is now Florida due to more rights and freedoms extracted from the Spanish Empire. Some intermarried and were culturally Seminole, while others maintained a more African culture. Descendants of those who were removed with the Seminole to Indian Territory in the 1830s are recognized as Black Seminoles. Many were formerly part of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, but have been excluded since the late 1900s by new membership rules that require proving Native American descent.
U.S. Army Lieutenant George McCall recorded his impressions of a Black Seminole community in 1826:
"We found these negroes in possession of large fields of the finest land, producing large crops of corn, beans, melons, pumpkins, and other esculent vegetables....
I saw, while riding along the borders of the ponds, fine rice growing; and in the village large corn-cribs were filled, while the houses were larger and more comfortable than those of the Native Americans themselves."